Albert Barnes Commentary Job 9

I know this is true – Job here refers, undoubtedly, to something that had been said before; but whether it is to the general line of reasoning, or to some particular expression, is uncertain. Rosenmuller supposes that he refers to what was said by Eliphaz (Job 4:17); but it seems more probable that it is to the general position which had been established and defended: that God was just and holy, and that his actions were characterized by fairness. Job admits this, and proceeds to show that it was a truth just as familiar to him as it was to them. The object of his focusing on it seems to be to show them that it was no new thing to him, and that he had some views on that important subject which were very much deserving attention.

But how can man be just with God? – A marginal note reads “before God.” The meaning is that he could not be regarded as perfectly holy in the sight of God; or that so holy and pure a being as God must see that man was a sinner, and regard him as such (see the sentiment explained in the notes on Job 4:17). The question asked here is, in itself, the most important ever posed by humankind: “How shall sinful man be regarded and treated as righteous by his Maker?” This has been the great inquiry which has always been before the human mind. Man is conscious that he is a sinner. He feels that he must be regarded as such by God. Yet his happiness here and hereafter, his peace, and all his hope depend on his being treated as if he were righteous, or regarded as just before God.

This inquiry has led to all forms of religion among various peoples, to all the penances and sacrifices of different systems, and to all the efforts that have been made to devise some system that will make it proper for God to treat people as righteous.

The question has never been satisfactorily answered except in the Christian revelation, where a plan is disclosed by which God “may be just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth.” Through the infinite merits of the Redeemer, man, though conscious that he is personally a sinner, may be treated as if he had never sinned; though feeling that he is guilty, he may consistently be forever treated as if he were just. The question asked by Job implies that such is the evidence and the extent of human guilt, that man can never justify himself. This is clear and indisputable. Man cannot justify himself by the deeds of the law.

Justification, as a work of law, is this: A man is charged, for example, with the crime of murder. He argues in defense that he did not kill, or that if he took life, it was in self-defense, and that he had a right to do it. Unless the fact of killing is proven, and it is shown that he had no right to act as he did in the situation, he cannot be condemned, and the law acquits him. It has no charge against him, and he is just or justified in the sight of the law.

But in this sense, man can never be just before God. He can neither show that the things charged against him by his Maker were not done, nor that, if they were done, he had a right to do them. Being unable to do this, he must be held to be guilty. Therefore, he can never be justified by the law. It is only by that system which God has revealed in the gospel—where a conscious sinner may be treated as if he were righteous through the merits of another—that a man can ever be regarded as just before God (see the notes on Romans 1:17 and Romans 3:24-25).

If he will contend with him - That is, if God enters into a controversy with man. If God chooses to charge him with a crime and to hold him responsible for his deeds. The language here is taken from courts of justice, and means that if a trial were instituted, where God should submit charges and the matter were left to adjudication, man could not answer the charges against him .

He cannot answer him one of a thousand - For one of a thousand of the sins charged against him. The word “thousand” here is used to denote the largest number, or all. A man who could not answer for one charge brought against him out of a thousand must be held to be guilty; and the expression here is equivalent to saying that he could not answer him at all.

It may also be implied that God has many charges against man. His sins are to be reckoned by thousands. They are numerous as his years, his months, his weeks, his days, his hours, his moments; numerous as his privileges, his deeds, and his thoughts. For not one of those sins can he answer. He can give no satisfactory account before an impartial tribunal for any of them. If so, how deeply guilty is man before God!

How glorious that plan of justification by which he can be freed from this long list of offences, and treated as though he had not sinned!

He is wise in heart - Herder renders this,

Even the wise and the powerful,
Who has withstood him and prospered?

But the more common interpretation is to refer it to God. The meaning of Job appears to be, that God was a sagacious adversary; that he was able to manage his cause; that he could meet and refute all objections which could be urged; and that it would be in vain to engage in litigation before him. He so well understood the whole ground of debate, and was so entirely skilled in the merits of the controversy, and could so successfully meet all that could be alleged, that it was useless to attempt to hold an argument with him.

And mighty in strength - He is able to execute all his designs, and to carry all his purposes into effect. Man is weak and feeble, and it is hopeless for him to attempt to contend with the Almighty.

Who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered? - To harden oneself, here means to resist or withstand him. It refers to the firmness or resolution which one is obliged to adopt who opposes another. Here it means the opposition which man makes to the law and government of the Most High; and the affirmation is, that no one can make such opposition who will not be ultimately overcome.

God is so great, so powerful, and so just, that a successful resistance cannot be made. The arrangements of God will take their course, and man must yield to his claims and his government, or be prostrated. None can successfully resist God; and the true policy of man, as well as his duty, is to yield to him, and be at peace with him.

And hath prospered - Or been successful. He has failed in his opposition, and been obliged to yield. Prosperity is not found in opposing God. It is only by falling in with his arrangements and following his designs.

A prosperous voyage is made by falling in with winds and currents, and not in opposing them; prosperous agriculture is carried on by coinciding with the favorable seasons of the year, and taking advantage of the dews, and rains, and sunbeams that God sends, and not in opposing them; prosperity in regard to health is found in taking advantage of the means which God gives to secure it, and not in opposing them.

And the sinner in his course has no more chance of success and prosperity, than a man would have who should make it a point or principle of life always to sail against tides, and currents, and head winds; or he who should set at defiance all the laws of husbandry, and plant on a rock, or in the dead of winter; or he who should feed himself on poison rather than on nutritious food, and cultivate the nightshade rather than wheat. The great principle is, that if a man desires prosperity, he must fall in with the arrangements of God in his providence and grace; and wisdom is seen in studying these arrangements, and in yielding to them.

Which removeth the mountains - In order to show how vain it was to contend with God, Job refers to some exhibitions of his power and greatness. The “removal of the mountains” here denotes the changes which occur in earthquakes and other violent convulsions of nature. This illustration of the power of God is often referred to in the Scriptures; compare Judges 5:5; 1 Kings 19:11; Psalms 65:6; Psalms 114:4; Psalms 144:5; Isaiah 40:12; Jeremiah 4:24.

And they know not - This is evidently a Hebraism, meaning suddenly, or unexpectedly. He does it, as it were, before they are aware of it. A similar expression occurs in the Koran, “God overturns them, and they do not know it;” that is, he does it without their suspecting any such thing; compare Psalm 35:8. Let destruction come upon him at unawares, or, as it is in the Hebrew and in the margin, which he knoweth not of. Tindal renders this, “He translates the mountains before they are aware.”

Which overturneth them in his anger - As if he were enraged. There could scarcely be any more terrific exhibition of the wrath of God than the sudden and tremendous violence of an earthquake.

Which shaketh the earth out of her place - This evidently refers to violent convulsions of nature, as if the earth were to be taken away. Objects on the earth’s surface become displaced, and convulsion seems to seize the world. The Septuagint renders this, “who shaketh that which is under the heavens from its foundations” - ἐκ Θεμελίων ek themeliōn. The change in the Hebrew would be very slight to authorize this rendering.

And the pillars thereof tremble - In this place the earth is represented as sustained like a building by pillars or columns. Whether this is a mere poetic representation, or whether it describes the actual belief of the speaker in regard to the structure of the earth, it is not easy to determine. I am inclined to think it is the former, because in another place where he is speaking of the earth, he presents his views in another form, and more in accordance with the truth (see the notes at Job 26:7), and because here the illustration is evidently taken from the obvious and perceived effects of an earthquake. It would convulse and agitate the pillars of the most substantial edifice, and so it seemed to shake the earth, as if its very supports would fall.